University of Fribourg

About: University of Fribourg is a education organization based out in Fribourg, Freiburg, Switzerland. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Glacier. The organization has 6040 authors who have published 14975 publications receiving 542500 citations. The organization is also known as: UNIFR & Universität Freiburg.

Material properties of MBH4 (M = Li, Na, and K)

Abstract: Note: Times Cited: 105Symposium on Nanoscale Materials for Energy Storage2003Strasbourg, FRANCE Reference EPFL-ARTICLE-206022doi:10.1016/j.mseb.2003.10.045View record in Web of Science URL: ://WOS:000220947700011 Record created on 2015-03-03, modified on 2017-05-12

Determinism in new-dialect formation and the genesis of New Zealand English

Abstract: In this paper we use an extensive archive of early New Zealand speakers, together with comparisons with the other Southern Hemisphere varieties of English, to argue that dialect mixture and new-dialect formation are not haphazard processes. We demonstrate that, given sufficient linguistic information about the dialects which contribute to a mixture, and sufficient demographic information about the proportions of speakers of the different dialects, it is possible to make predictions about what the outcome of the mixture will be. We also argue that we have arrived at a probabilistic solution to the problem of randomness in the transmission of dialect features from one generation to another in such situations.

Optically healable polymers

Abstract: Polymers that can easily be repaired after being damaged are attractive as this characteristic can improve the reliability, functionality, and lifetime of many products. In the last decade, researchers have thus developed new approaches to create stimuli-responsive polymer systems, which have the ability to autonomously heal or can be repaired upon exposure to an external stimulus. This review summarizes the current knowledge of optically healable or photo-healable polymers. The use of light as a stimulus for healing offers several attractive features, including the ability to deliver the stimulus locally, which opens up the possibility of healing the material under load, as well as the ability to tailor the wavelength of light to selectively address a specific component of the material, e.g. only the damaged parts. So far, two main classes of optically healable polymers have been explored, which are structurally dynamic polymers and mechanically activated reactive systems.

Drosophila as a focus in olfactory research: Mapping of olfactory sensilla by fine structure, odor specificity, odorant receptor expression, and central connectivity

Abstract: This review intends to integrate recent data from the Drosophila olfactory system into an up-to-date account of the neuronal basis of olfaction. It focuses on (1) an electron microscopic study that mapped a large proportion of fruitfly olfactory sensilla, (2) large-scale electrophysiological recordings that allowed the classification of the odor response spectra of a complete set of sensilla, (3) the identification and expression patterns of candidate odorant receptors in the olfactory tissues, (4) central projections of neurons expressing a given odorant receptor, (5) an improved glomerular map of the olfactory center, and (6) attempts to exploit the larval olfactory system as a model of reduced cellular complexity. These studies find surprising parallels between the olfactory systems of flies and mammals, and thus underline the usefulness of the fruitfly as an olfactory model system. Both in Drosophila and in mammals, odorant receptor neurons appear to express only one type of receptor. Neurons expressing a given receptor are scattered in the olfactory tissues but their afferents converge onto a few target glomeruli only. This suggests that in both phyla, the periphery is represented in the brain as a chemotopic map. The major difference between mammals and fruitflies refers to the numbers of receptors, neurons, and glomeruli, which are largely reduced in the latter, and particularly in larvae. Yet, if activated in a combinatorial fashion, even this small set of elements could allow discrimination between a vast array of odorants.